Latch



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

FLOYD N. PERKINS, OF CLEVELAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE KENTON LOCK MANU*` FACTURING COMPANY, OF KENTON, OHIO.

LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,146, dated July 29, 1890.

Application tiled May 21, 1889- Serial No. 311,601. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FLOYD N. PERKINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Latches; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to zo which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in door-latches; and the invention consists in the construction shown and described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

I5 In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a plan view of a latch and lock-case, with enough of the casing broken away to disclose the latch and its associated mechanism. Fig. 2 is a view of the rear upper corner of Fig. l,

2o with the latch removed and showing thelock in position to engage the lever and prevent the latch from opening'. Fig. 3 is a detail of the lever and the hub as they stand in relation to one another in their normal position.

Fig. 4C is a section of the casing in the corner which supports the hub and lever. (Shown also in Figs. l and 2,but with the face of the case partly covered.) Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the hub, showing the' recess in its side, in

3o which a projection on the lever works. Fig. 6 is a detail in perspective of the lever, and Fig. 7 a view of a section of the rear edge of the casing, disclosing the projections on the case and on the lock, respectively, whereby the lock is held in either adjusted position,

as hereinafter described.

I am aware that a latch or bolt, lever, and hub have been used before in the general relation here shown, and I do not claim them 4o as new, broadly; butIamnot aware that the special construction herein shown and described has ever before been known or used.

Among the advantages of the device as made by me are compactness and ease of operation,and these advantages result from the novel construction of the parts, asI shall now proceed to describe.

A represents the hub, in which the spindle of the handle, by which the latch is operated,

5o is supported in the usual angular axial openn ing a. This hub is provided with a recess a" in its side, made deep enough to expose the opening a., as seen in Fig. 5, but leaving the hub intact above and below the opening. The lever B is set to closely encircle the hub A about half-way round, and has a projection I), which enters the recess a', and is so arranged as to work in said recess. The ful- Crum-point of the lever is close to the hub, as shown, at the angular shonlderb on the lever, 6o which bears against a rib d on the casing. The base b2 of the lever normally lies flat against the upturned ange or edge of the casing, between ribs d and d', and the arm b3 of the lever extends past the hub and has a flat bearing-surface h4, engaged by the short arm o? of the hub. The stem of the latch C is perforated to connect with the post b5 on the lever. A suitable springD bears against the outer extremity ot" the base b2 of the le- 7o ver, and serves to carry all the parts back to the position of rest after the latch has been opened, as seen in Fig. l. On the under side of the arm of the lever is aslight lug h6, which works in a segmental groove a4 in the case. 75 The curvature of the groove a* corresponds to the fulcrum-point b d as the center of the curve, and the projection b, working in recess a of the hub, serves to keep the lug b in the groove while the hub turns in opening the So latch.

In operation when the hub is turned bythe handle the arm a2, bearing against the surface b* of the lever, presses that end of thelever back, thus retracting the latch and draw- S 5 ing it wholly within the case. Then this is done, the lever turns on its fulcrum,to which it is held by the joint action of the hub, the segmental groove a* in the case,and the spring. The several parts are so bestowed about the 9o hub that the operation of the latch is performed with the greatest possible ease, considering the distance it is to be moved, as it. is placed directly bythe side of the hub near its axial center instead of being carried to the lower part of the case and operated through along arm, as in other latches in common use: By Iny constructionI am enabled to get the works nearer to the edge of the case than l was possible with the old form, and this makes 10c room for latch and locking bolt in a correspondinglysmaller case than formerly was necessary. The latch comes above and the locking-bolt below in their natural order,

whereas with the old construction these parts were necessarily reversed.

E represents a lock pivoted on a post e on the case, and adapted to engage a shoulder bs on the back of the lever B to preventthe latch from being opened. In Fig. l the lock is shownas swungout of locking position and in Fig. 2 as in locking position. A slight rib or projection c on the case, Fig. 7, and a corresponding rib or projection e2 on the bottom of the lock, with a spring ca to hold the lock down operates to hold the lock down in either position.

It will be observed that the arm h3 of the lever extends at right angles to the base b2 and has a semicircular curve or depression b'vvhich surrounds the hub. This curvature about the hub enables me to bring the arm to one side of the hub, Where it makes free connection with the latch-stem for the longitudinal movement thereof, and at the same time comes near to the hubl in such relation that a very short arm thereon will move the latch the requisite distance.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In door-latches, the casing provided with a groove of* on its inner side, extending in a curved line from the opening for the spindle, a hub provided With an axial opening for the spindle, a recess ct in its side, and an arm a2, in combination With a spindle a and a lever B, having a projection b entering 'the recess in the hub, an arm b3, Which is engaged by the arm ct, and a projection b4 on its under side Working in the groove d4 in the casing, substantially as set forth.

2. In a door-latch, the lever provided with a base resting against the edge of the case, a post for the latch, and a shoulder for the lock near the post, in combination with a lock to engage sai'd shoulder, and a hub with an arm to operate the lever, substantially as set forth'.

' FLOYD N. PERKINS.

Witnesses:

IRENE L. CoREY, H. T. FISHER. 

